Using cellphones to measures road defects

A novel system is now available that allows a smartphone to be used to measure road defects. Developed by Grimmer Software, the RoadBump Android application can be used to measure the roughness of a road. This tool can provide estimates of International Roughness Index (IRI) in metric or standard units, without requiring high-cost laser profilers.
August 19, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A novel system is now available that allows a smartphone to be used to measure road defects. Developed by Grimmer Software, the RoadBump Android application can be used to measure the roughness of a road.

This tool can provide estimates of International Roughness Index (IRI) in metric or standard units, without requiring high-cost laser profilers.

RoadBump uses an Android device's GPS and accelerometer to measure the roughness of a road. It displays a map of the road that was measured, and allows you to zoom in to measure any part of the travelled path. RoadBump produces estimated IRI and Present Serviceability Rating (PSR) graphs. An accelerometer graph shows individual bumps, dips and waves.

The firm said that this tool is easy to use. Activating the unit and driving along the road at normal speed is sufficient to gather road data. A network connection is not required. The unit can be used when travelling at speeds from 32 to 100km/h and is said to have been extensively tested to ensure its accuracy.
Maintenance

Related Content

  • Fugro quality assurance for Chinese roads using data collection
    September 11, 2014
    Fugro Roadware has supplied a sophisticated ARAN 9000 pavement management data collection vehicle to the Jiangsu Transportation Research Institute Group (JSTRI) in China. JSTRI has provided research consulting services to the Chinese transportation industry since 1978. The ARAN 9000 will be a key technological asset for JSTRI by providing their research team with a system capable of collecting detailed data at posted highway speeds.
    Read More
  • Road savvy WIM prolongs highways and saves nations vital cash
    May 28, 2013
    A leading WIM system manufacturer is playing a key role in efforts to reduce the number of overloaded trucks costing developing economies around the world billions of dollars in accidents and damage to roads, while another company has won a major contract in South America. Guy Woodford reports. The prevalence of overloaded trucks on the road networks of developing countries and the accidents and structural damage they cause wastes valuable, limited resources in some of the world’s poorest economies, diverti
    Read More
  • Innovative traffic information technology used in Vancouver
    February 23, 2012
    As the world descended on Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, visitors were able to travel around the city with confidence and intelligence thanks to a landmark project by IRF Member, Delcan
    Read More
  • Innovative traffic information technology used in Vancouver
    April 12, 2012
    As the world descended on Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, visitors were able to travel around the city with confidence and intelligence thanks to a landmark project by IRF Member, Delcan
    Read More

Highlighted Content